


Just the Two of Us

by orsaverba



Category: Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Vampire, Alternate Universe - Zombie Apocalypse, Canon Compliant, Drabble Collection, Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-11-08
Updated: 2017-01-20
Packaged: 2018-08-29 22:49:57
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 7,180
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8508577
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orsaverba/pseuds/orsaverba
Summary: A collection of drabbles revolving around Hakuryuu, Judal, and the different shapes and forms their relationship can come in.





	1. Unfamiliar Customs

**Author's Note:**

> **Prompt:** Unfamiliar Customs

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Prompt:** Unfamiliar Customs

****Dragons did not, apparently, believe in the concept of clothing. Judal had originally thought this was just a matter of happenstance; one did usually swim naked, and his first look at Hakuryuu had been after the dragon had fished him quite gallantly from the river. Since coming to live with him however, this had proved to be… not the case.

 

Logically it made perfect sense, dragons were beasts and beasts didn’t bother with clothing, and Hakuryuu was just trying to be polite by taking on a form that Judal could actually communicate with. It was just that, back in his village, the old stories had always involved the handsome dragon showing up in elaborate, billowing robes.

 

Judal supposed none of the storytellers wanted to admit that they got a full frontal look at the dragon first time they saw him but, hey, Judal wasn’t one to judge.

 

This also would have been far less of a problem if Judal was, say, interested in women. Or as conservative as the other villagers. Or maybe had a little bit more self-control. Or didn’t _desperately_  want to suck the dragon's cock as thanks for saving his near-unconscious self from drowning.

 

It was beginning to truly try his patience to wake up every morning, shuck on a simple robe, walk out into the open main room and find Hakuryuu sitting there casually on the porch, as naked as the day he was born. The sun liked to play glittering patterns over the patches of pearly scales that dotted his skin and his hair was always a waterfall of ink over his shoulders. You couldn’t blame Judal for staring. Couldn’t blame him for tracing his eyes down, down, down along that jagged scar until his eyes fell on toned thighs. ( And occasionally, what was between them. )

 

Judal had been doing his best to just _deal_  with this, among Hakuryuu’s other small quirks, considering all the dragon had done for him. Aside from saving his life it was nice to know he was half-dragon himself and not just some red-eyed freak of nature, but he _had_ been raised by humans. Conservative humans. Humans who would be very much frowning upon how he spent half his days drooling over his dragon companion.

 

“Do you… Do you never wear…” Judal gestured vaguely at all of Hakuryuu. “ _Anything?_ ”

 

Hakuryuu, who was lounging on his side on the floor in a pool of sunlight, looked up at him through his dark lashes. Judal tried very hard not to let the burst of heat the look sent through him show on his face.

 

“Clothing is a hindrance, it always tears when I change forms and it feels _excessive_.” he said in his low and lazy tone. He always got a little lethargic in the sunlight, just like the reptile he was. 

 

“Being seen… like this, doesn’t _bother_ you?”

 

“It’s only skin. If you’ve seen me in my true form, you’ve seen it all already.” His head lolled slightly in his palm, tilted just enough that he could cast an eye over Judal. “You should try it. You’d feel better than wearing those rags all day.”

 

Red rushed to Judal’s cheeks. 

 

“What– _me_?” he stumbled out, trying in vain to not look like a mouse caught in the lamplight. Hakuryuu smiled in a way that curved his mouth a little too suggestively.

 

“You _are_  a dragon at your core, Judal. Just try it, you’ll feel better.”

 

Judal fumbled for an excuse not to, but didn’t find one. No one besides Hakuryuu was around, he _was_  in fact part dragon, and Hakuryuu was right. His clothing was mostly tatters. The worst that would happen would be that he would die of embarrassment but, considering the completely nude dragon not five feet from him, that was already kind of a possibility.

 

He took a deep breath and undid the sash around his waist, kicking it away when it fell to the floor so he couldn’t think better of it. He was just shrugging his robe off one shoulder when he made the mistake of glancing to the side. Hakuryuu was staring at him, the laziness from not a minute earlier completely gone.

 

“…Can you not… _stare_?”

 

“I can.” Hakuryuu confirmed, and then proceeded to remorselessly drag his eyes down the sliver of skin revealed by Judal’s open robe.

 

Judal opened his mouth, then…

 

“…You’ve been waiting for me to say something.”

 

“It did take you longer than I was expecting.”

 

“I– Oh my god if you wanted me naked you could have just _asked_.”

 

“What’s the fun in that?”


	2. It's for your own good

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Prompt:** It's for your own good

Judal snarled, shaking his head rapidly in a vain attempt to dislodge the muzzle strapped around his face. His shaking had almost grown violent when a well manicured hand reached out to grip his hair, holding him in place. He stopped moving, whining desperately from behind the metal grate and turning an accusatory glare up at his mate.

 

Hakuryuu’s hand loosened in his hair with a sigh.

 

“You’ll hurt yourself like that, Judal.” he chastised gently. “It’s for your own good, remember?”

 

Judal _did_  remember but it didn’t mean he _liked_  it. He liked the muzzle even less than he liked the leather bindings keeping his arms behind his back and the leash Hakuryuu was holding loosely in his lap. Sitting on the floor of the carriage between Hakuryuu’s knees wasn’t so bad, but everything else… 

 

Hakuryuu had the decency to look sympathetic and rubbed the tip of his pointed ear gently. Judal melted, as Hakuryuu knew he would, grudgingly leaning into the soft affection.

 

“If anyone sees your fangs, they’ll know you aren’t a simple lycan.” Hakuryuu reminded him soothingly. He’d gone over the plan at least a dozen times in the last few days alone, but repetition calmed Judal down. “It’s almost the full moon. You smell wolf enough to pass as one of them, but you know how hungry it makes you. If you drank any blood, they’d know you were a _mixed breed_.”

 

Logically, Judal understood why someone knowing he was a mixed breed was a bad thing. They just weren’t supposed to _exist_. Lycan and vampires weren’t really meant to reproduce together, their bodies just didn’t support one another’s DNA. In the incredibly rare case that they _did_  produce a child, however, the offspring was always a lot more _dangerous_  than it had any right to be.

 

Judal’s DNA had decided to make him the pinnacle of everything. The ethereal beauty of a vampire with the strength and speed of a wolf, the destructive force of the lycan with all the grace and precision of the vampire. He was made to kill, to _hunt_. 

 

Judal whined again and rubbed his cheek against Hakuryuu’s thigh. Hakuryuu stroked his hand through his hair.

 

“You just have to put up with it for a little while, pet.” he assured, nickname coaxing a purr from Judal. “It won’t do us any good to start a massacre in the middle of the ball.”

 

The mixed blood looked up at his mate, eyes clearly saying that he wildly disagreed with this statement. Hakuryuu was reminded again that while Judal _could_  control his bloodlust without too much trouble, that didn’t mean he _wanted_  to. His love would be quite happy to be set loose on the vampire gathering to slaughter to his heart’s content. And it was tempting.

 

“The point is to gain me _sympathy_ , pet.” Hakuryuu reminded. “I can’t seize the throne if I’m loathed, there will be a coup in a fortnight.”

 

Judal blinked. Hakuryuu got the impression he was saying that he’d just kill those vampires too. 

 

“That’s why I’m bringing _you_ , remember?” the vampire prodded gently, once more petting his mate’s dark hair. “Those old blooded fools are so stuck in the past they still think lycan are inferior to us. They’ll find my taking in a pet _endearing_.”

 

Hakuryuu absently rubbed at his mate’s jaw, hand trailing slowly down to push his fingertips beneath the thick collar around his neck. Judal craned his head back invitingly, whining with joy as Hakuryuu applied pressure to the deep bite mark hidden there. _His_ mark, the proof Judal was completely his.

 

“I promise, you’ll get your chance to kill, my pet.” he cooed softly. “And tonight, once the banquet is over and we’ve retired, I’ll bring you someone to drink dry.”

 

A small growl. Hakuryuu smiled.

 

“Ah, forgive me. You’d rather drink from me, wouldn’t you?”


	3. Things you said at 1AM

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Prompt:** Things you said at 1am
> 
> **Zombie Apocalypse AU**

“…Ryuu, you still awake…?”

 

 _No_ , Hakuryuu thought as his eyes fluttered open. _But I am now._  

 

Judal’s voice cut through the fog of sleep as easily as a well sharpened blade through flesh. It didn’t matter that Hakuryuu hadn’t been sleeping very deeply to begin with, he could have been dead to the world and that voice would have woken him.

 

He rolled over, blinking into the darkness. Vague moonlight filtered through the dirty windows at the back of the van, but it did little to illuminate things. His hand stretched out until cool fingers curled around his palm. Hakuryuu gripped onto the hand tightly. 

 

“I am.” he said, just as softly.

 

Judal squirmed closer to him, but all Hakuryuu could hear was the rustling of blankets over lumpy futons. His vision was almost completely dark, but he felt their knees knock together. Instinctively, he kicked his legs free of his blanket so he could hook his calf over Judal’s.

 

Judal squeezed his hand. 

 

“What if… what if I’m _not_  the cure?” he mumbled softly. “What if it’s someone else? What if there _isn’t_  a cure? What if… What if I’m just _weighing you down_ …?”

 

It wasn’t the first time Judal had had one of these episodes of self-doubt. His voice gave him away, uncharacteristically timid and soft. Usually even his whispers seemed to flutter from his lips with energy, but like this he seemed small. Afraid. 

 

Hakuryuu sighed through his nose, closing his eyes for a moment. When he opened them again his vision had focused enough that he could make out Judal’s outline in the darkness. His big, crimson eyes were staring straight through Hakuryuu and into his soul, pleading him for answers. They were impossible to resist, they always had been. 

 

With some effort, he shoved himself up using his stump of an arm and rolled himself over. Judal didn’t resist him, rolling onto his back so Hakuryuu could straddle his waist and pin him to the futon. He sat back on his knees, resting his weight on Judal’s hips and staring down at him. For a moment, he wished he still had his prosthetic on, but the thought flew clear of his mind as soon as he blinked.

 

Judal stared up at him.

 

“You,” Hakuryuu began, his voice rough from sleep. “ _Are_  the cure, Judal.”

 

He pressed his hand to Judal’s stomach, sliding his fingers under the hem of his shirt. Judal’s stomach tightened, breaths coming short as he pushed the cloth carelessly up over his chest. 

 

It was just like his mother to make everything one huge, elaborate, cruel game. Why simply engineer a biochemical weapon when you can make one that revives its victims and sets them upon their loved ones? Why test it on animals when you can use people? Why craft the cure in little vials when you can torture a child from infancy, subjecting them to injection after injection after injection until their veins run with medicine, not blood.

 

Even by the faint light, Hakuryuu could see the scars stamped in brutal patterns across Judal’s torso. Marks from needles, from scalpels, from nails, from _teeth_. God, so many from teeth, jaws in all shapes and sizes imprinted on his skin forever. Some of them were warped, had probably been different shapes and sizes when he first got them. When he was younger.

 

Drop a child in a cage with zombies, see if he survives. Sounds exactly like something his mother would do. 

 

“Look at you.” Hakuryuu went on, pressing his palm flat against Judal’s stomach. “Look what you’ve survived. How many have we seen infected from a bite, Judal? From less? How could you survive all this if you weren’t immune?”

 

“Maybe I’m just lucky. Maybe– Maybe it’s just a coincidence…”

 

Judal didn’t want to be alone. Hakuryuu knew he hated to be on his own, to be left behind. He feared nothing more than to be where he’d been, locked in a white room by himself, left to die with only his thoughts for company. If he wasn’t useful, he’d be alone, and being alone was worse than dying.

 

“You cured me, remember?” Hakuryuu hummed. His palm dragged up Judal’s chest, feeling it rise and fall as he breathed. Fingertips traced over the ridges of scars he’d memorized after countless nights touching them. “The first time we met. I’d be undead now, if not for you. Your blood saved my life…”

 

He leaned over, pushing his lips against the skin over Judal’s heart. There were no scars there. An innocent plain of milky flesh amidst the carnage.

 

“And that’s why my life belongs to you. Now and forever. Even when that bitch is dead, and this whole world is cured, I’ll always be your’s.”

 

Judal let out a breath that rattled his thin chest. Hakuryuu’s heart twinged and he resolved to find them more food tomorrow. It wasn’t like Judal could ever keep much down, but he ate more than he had in the beginning, and Hakuryuu hated how thin he was. How frail he seemed. He’d kill and steal to keep Judal safe and healthy if he had to, he was all that mattered.

 

“Do you promise?” Judal asked, and Hakuryuu could feel the words vibrating in his chest. “Cross your heart and hope to die?”

 

Hakuryuu lifted his head, pressing kisses over Judal’s skin until he reached his mouth. He kissed there too, just to feel his breath on his lips and taste the sleepiness on his tongue. 

 

“Cross my heart and hope to die.” he repeated back. 

 

Judal stared up at him for a long moment, then threw his arms around his neck and pulled him down against himself. Hakuryuu came willingly, twisting in Judal’s arms until he was comfortably curled around his slighter form. They were tangled up together, and one of them blindly reached for one of their blankets to pull up over themselves.

 

Hakuryuu tilted his head so Judal could nestle his face under his chin the way he liked to, hiding from the world as much as he could.

 

“Tomorrow,” he mumbled. “Can we drive with the windows down…?”

 

“Of course we can. And I’ll see if I can pick up one of the rogue stations that plays the music you like.”

 

“Will you sing along…?”

 

“If you want me to.”

 

Judal nodded against his neck. They settled into comfortable silence, their eyes slipping shut once more. In the morning, Judal would pretend like this never happened, and Hakuryuu would roll the windows down while they drove.


	4. "Do it, I dare you."

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Prompt:** Do it, I dare you.
> 
> **Vampire + Hunter AU**

It was never wise to fight in the rain, for the terrain around you was bound to change under the endless downpour from the heavens. Hakuryuu, who had memorized each and every inch of these forests since he was young, could no more navigate them now than if he were blind. 

 

The hunter pursuing him was light on his feet in a way no mortal should be capable of. If Hakuryuu had not drawn his blood in their brief tussle and smelled the mortality on him, he’d be sure it was another vampire, come seeking his head. Compared to him Hakuryuu felt as clumsy and flat footed as an ape, toes catching on roots and heels slipping in the mud.

 

Vampiric speed could have taken him through these woods in the span of a few short breaths on a good day, but the rain made it impossible to see clearly, let alone hear or smell. The paths he knew so well were obscured so that the whole forest became foreign to him. All he could do was blindly run and pray he made his escape.

 

Hakuryuu was fast, and he may have actually done it, but the earth chose to sink beneath his foot as he pressed down and he lost his footing in the muck. An undignified curse flew free of his mouth, and at the same moment a bolt came whizzing from the hunter’s bow. It knicked his shoulder, and the force of it sent him to the ground.

 

Before he could recover himself the hunter was upon him, his boot pressed to his chest so the vampire could not rise from the sodden earth. Hakuryuu shook his hair from his eyes and stared up into the hunter’s masked face, bearing his teeth.

 

“Go on then,” he snarled. “Do it. _I dare you._ ”

 

Of all things, a peal of laughter came from behind the hunter’s mask. Thunder followed it, catching the tail ends of his mirth. The silver tipped arrow pointed at Hakuryuu’s chest lowered, and then the hunter simply set it back into his quiver, bow held loosely at his side.

 

“And here I thought you’d be glad to see me. Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten me _already_ , huh?”

 

Hakuryuu stared at the hunter in confusion as he pulled his boot from his chest and took a step back. The man pulled away his mask, tugging the cloth around his mouth down so that the vampire could see his face. Hakuryuu’s eyes widened.

 

“Don’t you recognize me, Hakuryuu?” the hunter teased; and he did.

 

When last he had set eyes on Judal, he had been easing him into the arms of a bold young hunter by the name of Sinbad, trying to be sure they wouldn’t wake him. He had been so tiny then, an innocent bundle of rich black hair and curious crimson eyes that didn’t understand what a vampire queen could want with him.

 

Hakuryuu had been sure he’d never see him again. He’d spent years trying not to think of how Judal must have cried when he woke up in the hunter’s caravan, Hakuryuu nowhere to be found.

 

Yet here he was before him, fully grown. Fast enough to catch a vampire, strong enough to take one down, and with a smile that made Hakuryuu’s stilled heart wish it could beat again.

 

“I’m not here to kill you,” Judal said, extending a hand. “I’m here to help.”


	5. "Time passes slower..."

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Prompt:** Time passes slower without you

In theory the act of pulling away from someone seems simple enough, but in practice it’s a whole other story. Try as he might, Judal couldn’t bear to let the sovereign in his arms more than a breath away without pulling him back down into another kiss. Hakuryuu laughed against his mouth, obliging kiss after kiss with teasing nips to his mouth and soft touches of his tongue. 

 

“Love, love– _Judal_ –!” Hakuryuu chortled, pecking his mouth when he whined in protest. “Hush, let me blow out the candles.”

 

Judal let his arms slide free of his lover’s neck, but not without ensuring he could see his displeased pout. Hakuryuu smiled in that way that had melted Judal’s heart the moment he had seen it, brushing his knuckles to his cheek. He rolled over, pushing himself up from the bed so he could reach the candles burning faintly at his bedside.

 

Judal watched his lord’s bare back as he extinguished the candles, tracing the shadows along his curves and edges as they softened in the darkness. The room was soon bathed in only moonlight, and Hakuryuu dropped back down onto the bed.

 

Rolling back over, he quickly trapped Judal between his own body and the mattress again, sealing their mouths together in a heated kiss. The kind that lovers who had been apart for years gave each other, not mere seconds.

 

“How long can you stay?” Hakuryuu asked against his lips. He kissed Judal again before he could answer. “Please say the rest of the night.”

 

“The rest of the night.” Judal managed to mumble between kisses. He tangled his fingers into Hakuryuu’s hair, gripping the back of his head so he could draw him into an even more passionate kiss. Hakuryuu kissed him like he wanted to drown him in his love, and Judal has never wanted more to suffocate. He gasped for air; “I have to leave tomorrow morning, though…”

 

In daylight hours, no one would dare to call Hakuryuu anything close to _pitiful_ , but the noise he made against Judal’s mouth was just that.

 

“Why can’t I just keep you?” he murmured, pulling back enough to gaze down at his lover. “You would think that when I can command the rise and fall of kingdoms, I could keep the one I love at my side…”

 

Judal sighed, loosening his grip on his hair. His fingers brushed against Hakuryuu’s scarred cheek, tracing the harsh curve of burnt skin that by now he had memorized. 

 

“Because if the temple knew about us, they’d try to take the throne. They’d use me to do it. And I am your only weakness, Hakuryuu, so you would give it to them without question.”

 

Hakuryuu’s brow furrowed as emotion swam in his glacial eyes. After a moment he sighed, leaning his forehead against the priest’s. 

 

“Time passes slower without you. Hours are like days.”

 

“I know. I know, my love, I know.” Judal stroked the sovereign’s cheek, brushing his hair back behind his ears. “It won’t be like this forever.”

 

“No,” Hakuryuu agreed. “It won’t be. I’ll break their precious temple one piece at a time, chip the people’s faith in them away until it’s rubble. By the time I’m finished with them…”

 

“It will be like they never existed at all.” Judal smiled as he leaned up to kiss him.


	6. "Are you going to finish that, or...?"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Prompt:** Are you finishing that, or...?

On a bad day, anyone can be scatterbrained enough to leave something important somewhere it shouldn’t be. It happens to everyone at least once, and it’s nothing to beat yourself up over since it seems to just come with being human. But really, it had to take a special kind of _stupid_  to leave your unfinished novel sitting in a popular coffee shop and not realize it until halfway through the fucking day.

 

Today, Hakuryuu was that special kind of stupid. His usually clean mouth had been spewing muttered profanity for the last two hours, escalating in volume as he raced off campus towards the bus. He hadn’t been able to sit still, bouncing both legs fast enough it made people in the opposite aisle stare at him. 

 

By the time Hakuryuu was running down the street towards the coffee shop it had been almost three hours since he left it. His third class of the day was already starting, and usually his first absence on record would be making him panic. His missing book was making him panic more.

 

When he walked into the coffee shop, he spotted someone in the back corner where he had been sitting earlier that day, and no binder bursting with neatly organized white papers to be seen. 

 

Expecting the worst, but praying for better than that, Hakuryuu approached the stranger and cleared his throat. Bright crimson eyes looked up at him.

 

“Excuse me,” he said. “You wouldn’t happen to have seen a folder here when you arrived, did you…?”

 

The man grinned almost immediately, reaching down onto the bench beside him and picking up Hakuryuu’s missing work. The college student’s heart soared into his throat and he almost cried with relief as it was placed back into his hands.

 

“Oh, thank god, I’m so sorry to have bothered y–”

 

“So, are you finishing that, or what?”

 

He stopped and blinked.

 

“Pardon?”

 

“Your book,” the man said, pointing at it. “Are you going to finish it? Cause the place you left off is driving me fucking _crazy_ , I missed two meetings so I could sit here and get through the whole thing in one go.”

 

It took Hakuryuu a moment to process what was being said. You could see the second it clicked, because his whole posture changed and his cheeks flamed red.

 

“Y-you! You read-?! Who do you think you are?!” he spluttered indignantly, clutching his binder against his chest like the man was going to try and take it away from him. How could he have just left it here? A _stranger_  had read it!

 

The stranger grinned wider and extended a hand.

 

“Sorry, rude, my name’s Judal. I work for a publishing company, ever heard of _Sindria Books_?”

 

“Y-yes.” he stammered, heart plummeting towards his knees. Who didn’t know _Sindria Books_? They had published every well known author in the last ten years and then some.

 

“That’s great! Well, I’m their lead editor, and I’m happy to tell you we’re _very_  interested in your work.”

 

By some miracle, Hakuryuu managed not to faint where he stood. Barely.


	7. Accidentally Sleeping In

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Prompt:** Accidentally Sleeping In

The clock on the beside table informs him that they should have been out of bed two hours ago, blue numbers blinking at him accusatorily. Hakuryuu searches himself for some kind of concern, an ability to _care_ about what the clock is telling him. He doesn’t find one anywhere.

It’s a little difficult to care about anything, really, because Judal is tucked up against his side. God. _Judal_ is pressed to his side. Hakuryuu’s arm is asleep because it’s resting under _Judal_ so he can hold him. _He’s holding him._

Hakuryuu turns his head so he can look down at the gorgeous man beside him. Judal’s hair is a mess of obsidian waves across the pillows, and his cheek is pressed against Hakuryuu’s shoulder in a way that makes his lips stretch funny. But for the life of him, Hakuryuu can’t say he’s ever seen something more beautiful in his entire life.

It’s taken them years to get here. Years of missed opportunities and wrong timing, misunderstandings and arguments that could have been avoided. Too many moments where they both thought the other was gone for good, but here they are.

Hakuryuu drags his hand along Judal’s side, marveling at the feeling of his bare skin under his fingertips. Even through the static buzz of his sleeping limb he can still feel the softness. Judal responds to his touch, curving his whole body in a sleepy stretch so he’s molded up against Hakuryuu even more.

“Mm…” he hums, hitching a leg over Hakuryuu’s thighs. “…Morning.”

His eyes open, lazy and beautiful under dark lashes. It’s too early to be seductive, Hakuryuu wants to say, but his mouth feels dry as he looks at the love of his life, finally in his arms.

“Good morning.” he murmurs back, resting his hand on Judal’s trim waist. His thumb rubs circles on the nearest patch of skin, and Judal makes a lovely noise of contentment. 

“You’re not getting up, are you?”

“I wasn’t planning on it.”

“Good.”

They fall silent again. Hakuryuu is caught between admiring the warmth of Judal’s body against his own, and the beginning stirs of morning arousal. Judal is all gorgeously pale skin, bare as he’d left it the night before, pressed intimately against him like it’s the most natural thing in the world. If he trails his eyes down, Hakuryuu can see the places his mouth sucked bruises and his fingers left marks of possessive passion.

Judal’s hand rubs slowly over his chest, fingers dancing over his ribs, almost light enough to be ticklish. Hakuryuu curls his arm a little tighter around his waist. His heart skips when Judal rolls his hips shamelessly, and he can feel the warmth of his arousal against his thigh.

“Do you want to talk?” Judal asks absently. “About, you know. Us, and things.”

It’s a serious topic, but Hakuryuu can’t begin to imagine how Judal could focus on it right now.

“Do you?” he asks, because if Judal wants to have this conversation now he’ll put his desires on hold and have it, no questions asked.

Judal is quiet, thoughtful, for a long few moments. Hakuryuu can see him considering things, it shows in the soft crease of his brow and the way his bottom lip pouts ever so slightly.

“I want,” Judal says eventually. “To stay in this bed, with you. And I want you to fuck me, like you did last night, until I can’t think straight. And then I want to order takeout for whatever meal we feel like eating.”

He looks up at him, crimson gaze unwavering.

“And then I want to talk.”

It is perhaps not the most advisable plan, but Hakuryuu nods along with it anyway. He draws Judal closer, until he’s sliding on top of him, their arousals cradled between their bellies. His hands slide down to grip his thighs, then up to palm his ass the way Judal seems to love.

And then he can’t help it anymore, and he leans up and _kisses_ his mouth, still bruised from all the kissing they’d done the night before.

“Okay,” he sighs against his lips. “I can do that.”


	8. Things you said when you were scared

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Prompt:** Things you said when you were scared 
> 
> ( + Fantasy AU )

It had been many years since someone had been foolish enough to trespass willingly into his abode. The steps carved into the mountain had become dull and cracked, their weathered edges covered in creeping moss. He no longer ventured out, down the mountain to the clear river and thriving woodland below. Humanity had long made it inhospitable for him, and so he gazed down at them with hatred from his cavern home.

 

Bones littered the stone entryway, distasteful, discarded remnants meant to prove a point rather than boast his strength. Hakuryuu thought them ugly and yearned daily to sweep them away, but they kept fear in the hearts of humans daring enough to creep close to the top of the stairway. 

 

Except for this one. Hakuryuu had hardly believed his ears when he heard the soft footsteps on the stone floor. Surely, no one could be stupid enough to try their luck approaching him, the humans _couldn’t_  have forgotten what he was capable of. He still tossed carcasses from the mountain sometimes, half eaten beasts that they feared living, and were horrified by when they were dead. Who could be so brazen?

 

It was no great warrior or sacrificial maiden, though he could almost mistake the intruder for the second in the right lighting. Hakuryuu had assumed the body of a beast, his body an elongated coil of muscle coated in opalescent scales, and crept between the shadows towards them. The moment the intruder had turned their head to glance behind themselves at the entryway he had pounced, bearing down on them with a terrible roar, lips curled back over his brutal teeth. 

 

He did not snap their neck immediately, though the thought crossed his mind. An insignificant creature like this was of no threat to him at all, and there was no harm in seeking answers before he dispatched them and added their corpse to the piles of bones outside. It had been some time since he had partaken of human flesh, and this one was young enough to still be sweet.

 

“What a brave little one you are,” he mocked in the graveled voice of a beast, words snarled between his bared teeth. “You must know only death awaits you on this mountain, and yet here you are.”

 

The boy, for his scent and body were both male Hakuryuu realized, struggled briefly beneath the taloned foot pinning him to the ground. He quickly gave up, however, drawing in shallow breaths and looking up into the beast’s eyes.

 

“Foolish, foolish.” Hakuryuu tutted, flicking his serpentine tongue out to flicker against his cheek.

 

The boy flinched.

 

“Tell me little one, what brings you to my mountain? What business have you in my home? Did you think I needed a ripe morsel like yourself to fill my belly? How considerate.”

 

“I– I was bringing flowers-!” the boy blurted, his eyes darting to where the blossoms had fallen when he was attacked. They were lovely things, poppies and camellias, and two chrysanthemums he must have made a great effort to obtain, for the humans guarded them fiercely. 

 

Hakuryuu couldn’t help but laugh. It rumbled in his chest and shivered through his body, shaking the boy in the process as he was pinned. The boy’s breathing quickened, and Hakuryuu tightened his grip in response.

 

“For the dead? Such a considerate little thing you are. But the dead cannot thank you for your kindness, and so I think you have wasted your one life in vain…”

 

“No, I brought them for you!”

 

The beast reeled back, as if he had been struck. It was not the first time a human had said something to give him pause, but nothing had ever startled him as much as this boy’s outburst. His crimson eyes were fiery, glaring fiercely up at Hakuryuu despite the tremors coursing through his whole body. The boy was frightened, but he did not cower from the beast’s searching gaze.

 

Hakuryuu dipped his head down, hovering mere inches above the boy’s face, eyes critical.

 

“For…me? Tell me what you mean, little one.”

 

The boy sucked in a shaky breath, and belatedly Hakuryuu loosened his grip, if only just. Another breath was taken, deeper this time.

 

“I… I picked them for you. The villagers, they always talk about the great beast of the mountain, how fearsome and terrible you are… They tell stories. About how it was before the village came to be, how all the lands were yours and the sky itself bent to your command.”

 

Hakuryuu’s body slithered forward, crowding into coils that blocked the rest of the cavern from view. He yearned to fly, to part his jaws and call forth lightning and storms once more. It had been so long since he had been free of the humans and their fear, for from their fear came viciousness, and their viciousness was terrifying.

 

The boy went on.

 

“They talk of how you were chased out, the great battles for the land, and they make the village and its elders, and the elders before them and before them, out to be some kind of heroes. But it isn’t like that at all! This land, this mountain, the sky above our heads, it is all rightfully yours, I have always thought. _We_  are the villains, in the story, and I have never thought it fair.”

 

He swallowed, stilling the quiver beginning in his voice.

 

“I know that flowers hardly make up for what we have done, nor does an apology, but I… I thought I would do it anyway.”

 

Hakuryuu gazed down at the boy, tilting his head to observe how the light caught his features at a different angle. He was a pretty thing, his face heart-shaped, his lips the color of fresh cherry blossoms. His eyes were a delicate crimson framed in inky lashes, and his hair fell about him in a mane of obsidian that seemed more well-kept than the rest of him. His clothes were tattered, and his feet bandaged but otherwise bare, cheeks and neck smudged with grime but for the stripe Hakuryuu’s tongue had left behind.

 

With a little cleaning up, he would be a lovely creature. Beneath his clothes Hakuryuu could feel a trim physique, the kind meant to be draped in flowing silks that slid across the skin like walking temptation. The embers of desire had not warmed his blood in quite some time, it was true, but this boy…

 

Slowly, Hakuryuu pulled away from him, settling back against the coils of his own body. The boy sat up hastily as Hakuryuu made himself comfortable, resting an expectant stare on his unwanted guest. For a moment, the boy seemed confused before his eyes brightened visibly and he scrambled to collect his flowers.

 

He laid the offering at Hakuryuu’s feet, daringly close to the talons that had just held him captive, the blossoms carefully arranged as if to be displayed. He skipped back once they were as he wanted them, dropping to his knees and tucking his legs beneath himself in a charming show of respect. Hakuryuu let him sit there a moment, apprehensive for judgment, before lowering his head towards the flowers.

 

They smelled sweet. The petals tickled his nose and whiskers, but the smell held a nostalgia to it that Hakuryuu was hard pressed to pull himself away from. Once upon a time he had slept among the chrysanthemums and walked amidst the poppies as much as he liked. He tried not to dwell on how much he missed that time, but now the memories came rushing back. He had been softer then, a kinder being with a more open heart.

 

The boy was still sitting there when he lifted his head. A wise human would have taken the chance to run, and Hakuryuu couldn’t imagine himself bothering to give chase. This boy, though, had sat and waited.

 

“Tell me little one, what is your name?” he queried thoughtfully. 

 

The coils of his body shifted and began to slither about once more, the feathered tip of his tail curving around the boy until it could brush against his cheek. The boy jumped, looking round quickly before watching as the beast’s body began to encircle him. 

 

“Judal.” he answered carefully, shivering as the tip of his tail stroked against his cheek. 

 

“ _Judal_ ,” Hakuryuu repeated, watching how his voice made the boy’s shivers more pronounced. “I wonder, Judal, did you expect to return home when you came here?”

 

“I don’t have much of a home to return to.”

 

“Then you wanted to be eaten?”

 

“Not particularly, no.”

 

Hakuryuu’s laugh shuddered through his whole body once again, and this time it made the tip of his tail tickle against Judal’s neck. The boy stifled laughter as best he could, but did not lean away from the beast’s touch.

 

“So then, if you do not want to be eaten, and you have no home to return to, I suppose it would be in bad taste to reward your generosity with violence.” Hakuryuu mused aloud. “What to do with you then, what to do…”

 

He pretended to consider it a moment, then surged forward, so he was once more close enough to the boy to flick his tongue against his cheek. Beneath the dirt, his skin tasted sweet.

 

“I think I will have to clean you up,” he hummed. “And fatten you with meat and wine, until you’re as lovely as these flowers you have brought me. You will stay with me for a very long time, Judal. I think that is only fair.”

 

“It sounds completely reasonable.” Judal agreed earnestly. Excitement tinged the edges of his voice, and Hakuryuu’s lips pulled back in a grotesque rendition of a smile. 

 

“Very good, little flower, very good.”


	9. "This is the WEAKEST LOOKING protection circle..."

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Prompt:** “that is the weakest looking protection circle I’ve ever seen and NO I DON’T CARE THAT THIS IS AN EMERGENCY, YOUR DRAWING SKILLS NEED WORK DUDE”

Hakuryuu sucked in a deep breath, pressing his thumb just beneath the tip of his forefinger. Blood beaded from the small cut, eerily bright under the sparse moonlight overhead. He crouched down, turning his finger so his blood dripped slowly into the bowl of fresh cream and bread, one droplet at a time.

 

He murmured the faerie’s name three times under his breath, each whisper slurring into the next so that it was more a single exhale than words. The wind picked up the moment he closed his lips, bitter cold eating away at the breezy summer night. Hakuryuu stumbled back, hastily pressing his will into the circle of protection he had drawn and praying it would hold.

 

Darkness seemed to ebb into every shadow, inky black congealing in the shade of trees and buildings, seeping from the cracks in the concrete. Streetlamps winked out, one after another, welcoming the presence of the creature approaching. Hakuryuu counted them as they went out, first eight, then six, then four, then two….

 

The entrance to the alleyway was pitch, the moonlight filtering through the city skyscape not even making a dent in the encroaching darkness. A hum of power echoed around him, like a thousand murmuring voices he couldn’t quite catch. Hakuryuu held his breath.

 

From the darkness emerged a figure unworthy of the meager descriptions mortal words were capable of. Thin and elegant as twisting smoke, wrapped in cloth that flowed like water and hid none of the fae’s gorgeous figure. Beautiful did not begin to describe him, ethereal didn’t do him justice, it was the kind of loveliness that made one want to sink to their knees and weep. 

 

Hakuryuu thought he was composing himself quite well, but then the fae’s mouth curled into a smile and his knees turned to jelly almost immediately. By some miracle he managed to keep himself upright as the fae slowly circled around him, trailing shadows in his wake.

 

“My, my, my….” the faerie crooned. “What _do_  we have here… Not many mortals know my name, nowadays. It’s been _so_  long since I was summoned…”

 

He reached out his fingers, dancing them along the edges of Hakuryuu’s shield.

 

“Why don’t you come out from that…” the faerie stopped abruptly. “…What the _hell_  is that supposed to be?”

 

Hakuryuu wasn’t aware how close he’d been to being lulled completely under the faerie’s spell until he had to physically shake his head to clear it. He looked down where the fae was staring.

 

“…A circle of protection?” he tried, somewhat lamely, his head still a little foggy.

 

“ _That_ ,” the faerie said, putting his hands on his hips. “Is the most _sorry_  excuse for a protection circle I’ve ever had the misfortune of seeing. Who in the seven realms is responsible for this travesty?”

 

“It’s not that bad!” Hakuryuu protested defensively. He scowled when the faerie raised an incredulous eyebrow. “The runes are all holding!”

 

The fae traced his eyes over the runes, no doubt communicating with the magic pulsing through them. 

 

“…They’re holding,” he agreed. “ _Skeptically_.”

 

Hakuryuu bristled, drawing himself up to his full, not wholly impressive height.

 

“Well _excuse me_ , I was in a hurry–”

 

“Honestly that’s not even an excuse, you need drawing lessons or–”

 

“–AND WORKING WITH MY _NON-DOMINANT HAND_.” Hakuryuu snapped, finally losing his cool and gesturing angrily at the stump where his left arm had been.

 

The faerie blinked at him, features delicately surprised. Hakuryuu had to imagine physically beating the urge to kiss the fae’s cherubic mouth into submission. Now was no time to be transfixed by beautiful creatures far outside his scope of comprehension.

 

“…Well.” the faerie said, still standing with his hands on his hips. “That does make things interesting. And far be it from me to take advantage of cripple.”

 

“I’m not–!”

 

“So, let’s cut the formalities, shall we, handsome? What kind of deal are you looking to make with a nasty old thing like me?”

 

Hakuryuu would have loved to have answered, he had an entire speech he’d carefully practiced before he came. Unfortunately, it had been cleanly wiped from his thoughts when his mind short-circuited around the word “handsome”. Perhaps, in future, he would make an effort to summon a less enticing faerie.


End file.
